render-keyvalue

✓ Official★ 4,081

by openai · part of openai/plugins

Provisions and configures Render Key Value (Redis-compatible Valkey 8) instances for caching, session storage, and job queues. Use when the user needs Redis, Key Value, Valkey, a cache, session store, job queue backend, or needs to configure maxmemory policy, ipAllowList, connection strings, or internal vs external access. Trigger terms: Key Value, Redis, Valkey, cache, session store, REDIS_URL, maxmemory, ipAllowList, allkeys-lru, noeviction.

🧩 One of 7 skills in the openai/plugins package — works on its own, and pairs well with its siblings.

This is the playbook your agent receives when the skill activates — you don't need to read it to use the skill, but it's here to audit before installing.

Render Key Value

Render Key Value provides low-latency, Redis-compatible in-memory storage running Valkey 8. Use it as a shared cache, session store, or job queue backend. Compatible with virtually all Redis client libraries.

When to Use

Adding a cache or session store to a web app
Wiring a job queue backend for Celery, Sidekiq, BullMQ, Asynq, or Oban
Choosing the right maxmemory policy (cache vs queue)
Configuring ipAllowList in Blueprints (required field)
Connecting via internal vs external URLs
Troubleshooting auth failures or connection refused errors

For background worker setup and queue framework patterns, see render-background-workers. For Blueprint authoring, see render-blueprints.

Key Concepts

Valkey 8 (not Redis)

New instances run Valkey 8, an open-source Redis fork. It is a drop-in replacement for Redis—existing Redis client libraries work without changes. Legacy instances (created before Feb 2025) run Redis 6.

Connection URLs

Every instance has two URLs:

URL type	When to use	Auth required
Internal (`redis://red-xxx:6379`)	From Render services in the same region	No (by default)
External (`rediss://red-xxx:6379`)	From outside Render (local dev, CI)	Always

Always prefer the internal URL for production services—lower latency, no TLS overhead, communicates over the private network.

External connections are disabled by default. Enable them by adding IP ranges to the access control list in the Dashboard.

Internal authentication

By default, internal connections are unauthenticated. You can require auth for internal connections in the Dashboard for compliance or extra security. This changes the internal URL to include credentials:

redis://default:PASSWORD@red-xxx:6379

Warning: Enabling internal auth breaks existing unauthenticated connections. Migrate clients to the authenticated URL first.

Maxmemory Policy

Critical decision. Choose based on your use case:

Use case	Policy	Why
Cache (can lose data)	`allkeys-lru`	Evicts least-recently-used keys to free space
Job queue (cannot lose data)	`noeviction`	Returns error on writes when full; never drops keys
Session store	`allkeys-lru` or `volatile-lru`	Sessions can be regenerated; LRU is safe

All available policies:

Policy	Behavior	Memory fills up?
`allkeys-lru`	Evict any key by LRU	No
`noeviction`	Error on writes when full	Yes
`volatile-lru`	Evict keys with TTL by LRU	Yes
`volatile-lfu`	Evict keys with TTL by LFU	Yes
`allkeys-lfu`	Evict any key by LFU	No
`volatile-random`	Evict random keys with TTL	Yes
`allkeys-random`	Evict any random key	No
`volatile-ttl`	Evict keys nearest to expiry	Yes

Data Persistence

Paid instances: Disk-backed, appendfsync everysec. You may lose up to 1 second of writes on interruption.
Free instances: No disk persistence. Data is lost on restart or upgrade.
Upgrading from Free: All data is lost during the upgrade because Free instances have no disk.

Connection Examples

See references/connection-examples.md for client code in Node.js (ioredis, node-redis), Python (redis-py), Ruby (redis-rb, Sidekiq), and Go.

References

Document	Contents
`references/connection-examples.md`	Client code for Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go
`references/troubleshooting.md`	Auth errors, connection refused, memory full, migration from Redis 6

render-background-workers — Queue consumer setup with Celery, Sidekiq, BullMQ
render-blueprints — Full render.yaml schema, fromService patterns
render-networking — Private network, internal URLs
render-env-vars — Wiring REDIS_URL and other connection vars

Copy & paste — that's it

npx skills add https://github.com/openai/plugins --skill render-keyvalue

Run this in your project — your agent picks the skill up automatically.

Blueprint Configuration

services:
  - type: keyvalue
    name: cache
    plan: starter
    region: oregon
    maxmemoryPolicy: allkeys-lru
    ipAllowList: []

`ipAllowList` is required

Blueprints must include ipAllowList on Key Value services. Common patterns:

Value	Meaning
`[]`	No external access (internal only—recommended for most apps)
`[{source: "0.0.0.0/0", description: "everywhere"}]`	Open external access (use sparingly)
`[{source: "203.0.113.0/24", description: "office"}]`	Specific IP ranges

Wiring to services

Use fromService with type: keyvalue and property: connectionString:

envVars:
  - key: REDIS_URL
    fromService:
      name: cache
      type: keyvalue
      property: connectionString

Available fromService properties for Key Value:

Property	Value
`connectionString`	Full internal URL (`redis://red-xxx:6379`)
`host`	Hostname only
`port`	Port only (typically `6379`)

Instance Types and Upgrades

Instance type determines RAM and connection limit
You can upgrade to a larger type (brief downtime, ~1-2 minutes)
You cannot downgrade to a smaller type
For instances larger than 10 GB RAM, contact Render support

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Missing `ipAllowList` in Blueprint	Add `ipAllowList: []` for internal-only access
Using `allkeys-lru` for job queues	Switch to `noeviction`—LRU eviction drops queued jobs
Connecting with external URL from a Render service	Use the internal URL for lower latency and no auth requirement
Forgetting `type: keyvalue` in `fromService`	`type` is required; without it the wiring fails
Using deprecated `redis` type alias	Prefer `keyvalue` in new Blueprints (`redis` still works but is deprecated)